Peña Nieto, Enrique ( born July 20, 1966 , Atlacomulco, MexicoMexican politician of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional; PRI) who became the presumed president-elect of Mexico after preliminary results indicated that he had won winnig the July 2012 presidential election. Prior to that, he served as governor of the state of México (2005–11).

Peña Nieto was born in México state and was the oldest of four children born to his mother, who was a schoolteacher, and his father, who was an engineer with the national electric company. Peña Nieto earned a bachelor’s degree from Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, and an M.B.A. from Monterrey Technological Institute. From 1988 to 1990 , he served as a university professor. In 1994 Peña Nieto married Mónica Pretelini Sáenz, with whom he had three children; she died in 2007. In 2010 he married Angélica Rivera, a soap opera star on Televisa, Mexico’s largest TV network.

Peña Nieto joined the PRI, Mexico’s longtime ruling party, in 1984. He quickly advanced within the party and became active in México state politics, holding such positions as the secretary of administration (2000–02) and state congressman (2003–04). He successfully ran for the post of México state governor in 2005 and held it until 2011.

As governor, Peña Nieto based his agenda on more than 600 “compromisos”—public —public commitments or pledges—that he made to his constituents. He continued this practice while campaigning for the presidency, touting more than 250 compromisos that he would deliver if he became president. Like his opponents, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution and Josefina Vázquez Mota of the National Action Party, he pledged to improve the country’s economy and promised to combat the widespread drug-related violent crime, issues that resonated with voters. His youthful good looks and frequent association with celebrities served to increase his popular appeal. He was, however, dogged by claims that Mexico’s primary television stations, in particular Televisa, were biased in their coverage of him.

When voters went to the polls on July 1, 2012, it appeared that Peña Nieto’s message and appeal were enough to overcome the PRI’s legacy of authoritative rule and corruption. Preliminary results indicated that Peña Nieto had been victorious, having won more than 38 percent of the vote, ahead of his nearest challenger, López Obrador, who received almost 32 percent. His apparent victory was clouded, however, amid accusations of widespread irregularities and allegations that the PRI had engaged in vote-buying practices. Evidence of inconsistencies in vote tallies led to a recount of more than half the votes; the results of the recount upheld Peña Nieto’s victory. Still, López Obrador refused to concede, and on July 12 he filed a legal challenge calling for the election results to be invalidated because of the vote-buying allegations and alleged campaign spending violations by Peña Nieto and the PRI. The presidential election results could not be ratified until López Obrador’s complaint was ruled on by Mexico’s Electoral Tribunal; it had until September 6 to do so.As the presumed . In August it ruled against López Obrador’s complaint and upheld the election results.

As president-elect, Peña Nieto pledged that there would be transparency in his government and promised to appoint an anticorruption commission. He reiterated his campaign promises of working toward improving the economy as well as focusing resources to reign in the organized crime syndicates that had terrorized Mexican citizens. In light of the PRI’s history of allegedly making deals with drug cartels, Peña Nieto explicitly promised not to do the same. Given that the PRI did not win an outright majority in the legislature, it remained to be seen just how easily he would be able to implement his plans. Peña Nieto’s inauguration was expected to be held in December 2012.